The County's compromise budget is a 'shameful con'

The Green Party County Councillors who voted against the compromise budget, drawn up by the Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem Leaders for the County Council, have denounced the deal as a 'shameful con'.

“The budget itself is horrendous in its implications and focused as it is on extremely severe cuts on the most vulnerable, it's shameful.” said Cllr David Williams, Leader of the Greens on the County Council.

“They have admitted that its impact will be 'devastating'- their own words - but they all seem eager to follow the Tory Government line and impose the Austerity cuts" he went on to say.

"I have previously called on each of the Conservative Councillors to resign rather than put through such a disgraceful budget. It’s a con job. The three parties claim to have given some money back to the Children's Centres but £2m is a fraction of the £7m needed per year to keep them open, and all it will do is delay the closures by six months. There has been no withdrawal from the plan to close the 44 Children's Centres and reduce it to 8 facilities with considerably poorer services."

“Its not as if there was no alternative,” said Cllr Williams.

“The Greens proposed a legally sound budget that put back ALL the controversial cuts: Children's Centres, bus subsidies, wellbeing centres, reductions on spending to the homeless and a very large range of cuts to the elderly under the Adult Services budget... all for a Council Tax rate rise of 74p per week. It's a very small rise that I am absolutely convinced the people of Oxford would support rather than tolerate these disgraceful cuts.” said Cllr Williams.

David also felt that that there may be repercussions in the Labour Party and the Lib Dems from their leaders so eagerly supporting this budget.